My
wife, Her Excellency, Mrs. Martha Udom Emmanuel and I heartily share the joy of
Christmas and the hope of a prosperous New Year with all Akwa Ibomites at home
and in the Diaspora as well as residents of our State.

In
celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ; arguably the most significant event in
the history of the world, we should not lose sight of its profound and
important lessons. The Bible says “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son
is given…” So even from the cradle, the Son of God was a gift to mankind. A
wonderful gift, given to us as a token of His everlasting love and tender
mercies.

Because
He was a gift of love to mankind, the angels declared to the shepherds on that
blessed night that peace and goodwill shall henceforth be the lot of mankind.
As God showed us love, let us also show love; not only to our family members
and friends, but also to our neighbours, the needy, the widows, the
handicapped, etc. It is in doing this that you will fulfil the essence and
reason for this season.

I
am happy that we have domesticated Christmas with our Carol Night which has
become a global Christmas festival. We acknowledge with pride that our Carol
Night has recorded great feats over the years. But let us not forget that the
record would only serve as a useless piece of statistics if we do not support
it with another record of being the most united, loving and Christ-like people
in our nation. That record would remain a piece of junk data if we sing
joyously with our mouths but our hearts are darkened with prejudice and anger
towards one another. That record would remain a blemish on us if we only sing
together, without walking together. We must remember that what brought down the
walls of Jericho was not only that the children of Israel sang. It was while
they sang and walked together that the walls fell down flat.

Let
us continue to walk together, hand in hand, and allow the immortal words of
Abraham Lincoln ring true that even though we may have political differences,
even though we may see things through different prisms, we should show “malice
toward none, with charity for all”.

Our
Administration, is uncompromisingly committed to fostering unity and love in
this blessed State. Part of my Five Point governing agenda was political
inclusion. We are irrevocably committed to ensuring that we live together in
spite of our political differences. We should not destroy the fabric of our
society or sell ourselves short in the market place of politics simply because
we belong to different camps.

I
have always said that I am not against constructive criticism. It is a
desirable ingredient in any democratic culture, but such criticism should not
be coloured by mischief, malice and hatred. I charge our people to use this
season of good will, to commit themselves to politics of ideas, of inclusion
and eschew divisive tendencies. Let us commit ourselves to telling a different
story in 2018- a story of love and unity that reflects our collective essence
as co-owners of this wonderful State.

The
theme of the Carol Night was “Emmanuel, God is with us”. We affirm that God has
been with us and will continue to be with us. Through His benevolence and love
we have done great things for our people in the past years in spite of the
challenging economic times and would do even more in 2018 and beyond.

While
some States had to officially beg their workers that their back log of salaries
will be paid from March 2018, we have paid salaries of our workers as at when
due. To ensure that you have a merry Christmas, public servants in the State
received their December salaries on the 20th day of December before the
Christmas holidays. In addition, we have been paying the pensions and
gratuities of our retired workers on a continuous basis. Two weeks ago, the
Nigerian Union of Pensioners, held a thanksgiving event where they honored me
for paying their pensions and gratuities on time.

That
God is with us, is evidenced in the success recorded in a free, transparent and
fair Local Government Council elections that have just concluded. It has been
endorsed and celebrated, by among others, the Inter-Party Advisory Council of
Nigeria (IPAC) and the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP).

In
2017, as I promised in my last Christmas Broadcast, we commissioned Africa’s
largest syringe manufacturing company and a metering solutions company to
address the problems associated with estimated billing by DISCOS. We
established the pencil and tooth pick manufacturing company. The flour mill and
the coconut refinery are in the offing. We are in the process of setting up a
plastic manufacturing company which will be commissioned in May 2018. We also
attracted the second largest volume of Foreign Direct Investments in Nigeria
over the last 18-months. This feat was brought to public attention by the
National Bureau of Statistics.

It
is noteworthy that even the Federal Government had to celebrate and take notice
of our performance. In the MID TERM REPORT, published by the Special Adviser to
the President on Political Affairs, 32 pages were devoted to the achievements
of my administration. They celebrated our Administration for impacting and
touching lives and told the world the Great things that God has done for our
State and people. Indeed, it is rare in this part the globe to have such cross
Party commendation, celebration and praise for a Governor who belongs to an
opposing political party.

Fellow
Akwa Ibomites, we have sustained our free and compulsory basic education in
public schools inspite of the challenging economic times the nation is experiencing.
Currently we spend over N600m annually on WAEC fees for indigenes. We have done
this, because we believe that though our children do not have equal talent,
they should have an equal opportunity to develop their talents.

We
have improved our health care delivery by constructing and refurbishing major
secondary health care facilities across the State as well as the importation of
25 containers of the state-of-the art health care equipment, including 2
sophisticated ambulance vehicles complete with intensive care facilities which
are comparable to the very best in the world.

Our
people now enjoy an average of 18 hours of electricity supply in most parts of
our State. This, has been made possible through our investment in the power
sector, building and commissioning of new power sub-stations. For this we give
God the glory.

Through
His grace, we have diversified our economy from over-dependence on oil to
agriculture, industrialization and tourism. Akwa Ibom State is fast becoming
the destination of choice for tourists.

In
line with our campaign promises, we have turned our landscape into a
construction site leading to the construction of over 1,202 kilometers of
economically viable roads with 30 standard bridges that link and connect the
economic nerve centres of State. Through His grace, the flooding at Nsikak
Eduok Avenue in Uyo has been addressed and several other threats from gully
erosion has been contained. We believe that good infrastructural facilities are
the drivers of modern economies.

Our
youths have been motivated through the Dakkada philosophy to use their God
given endowments to work and create wealth for themselves. Happily they have
heeded the clarion call. Last week, I heard of a young woman who after graduating
from the University heeded to the Dakkada call. She started packaging fresh
coconut in nicely packed containers and selling them in supermarkets and
offices. She has been making huge sales and her business is expanding. The
money she makes today is by far more than she would have made if she had
regular employment. I have directed AKEES to partner with creative upcoming
entrepreneurs like this young woman who calls her company Flourish Coconut. We
urge more youths to respond to our clarion call to Dakkada and claim the faith
of greatness.

Let
me commend my wife, Her Excellency, Mrs. Martha Udom Emmanuel whose signature
project, Family Empowerment and Youth Re-orientation Program (FEYReP), have
built and donated houses to widows among other life-touching projects.

We
praise God for giving us the peace and freedom which has enabled us to pursue
our legitimate undertakings. The World Bank Country Director, Rachid Bennasouad
recently told the world that Akwa Ibom is the best place to do business.

Let
me use this opportunity to place on record that Akwa Ibom State is the only
State in Nigeria to own, manage and maintain an airport independently of
international standard. Construction work on the 2nd runway at the Akwa Ibom
airport in Uyo is at advanced stage and we have upgraded our main runway to a
category 2 runway to enhance accessibility. Similarly, our age-long quest to
encourage international oil companies to relocate their head offices to Akwa
Ibom has shifted into another gear, with the commencement of construction work
on a 21 storey smart office complex on the site of the old Uyo market. This
will provide ready-to-use state-of-the art office facilities for prospective
occupants.

Let
me conclude by assuring our people that though the tidal waves of our economic
growth may be rising and falling, though the road to our national development
may be strewn with thorns and spikes, the Akwa Ibom Spirit will continue to
rise and soar, because Emmanuel, God is with us and will continue to be with
us.